Social Aspects of Tea Consumption: Boston Tea Party

Tea, introduced in New York in the early 1600s by the Dutch, was even more popular in colonial America than in England. When the English Parliament wanted to punish the Americans for rebelling against taxes imposed under the Townshend Act, it enacted a heavy tea tax in 1767. The result was smuggling, and a brisk illicit trade developed between the Americans and the Dutch. The East India Company, which controlled the legal tea trade, saw its profits slide and pressured the British government to take action. In 1773 Parliament enacted the Tea Act, mandating that all tea going to America must pass through English ports. The British hoped that the American desire for tea, coupled with the fact that tea was less expensive in the colonies than in Britain, would minimize anger over trade restrictions. Instead, American resentment flared.